<p>Full disclosure: I am a planner. Perhaps obsessively so, but it works for me.</p>
<p>Now the topic:</p>
<p>My son will be a Freshman at VT this fall. We live in Massachusetts and I know traveling over Thanksgiving break can get pricey...so I have been shopping fares today and want to book his travel. It will already cost $120 more ($420) than our summer flights for orientation, and that's if he goes back to school on Saturday. If he goes back Sunday, it's like $650 r.t.</p>
<p>I've looked at the school calendar, and it's nice that VT has a long T-giving break...a full week! Even so I'm looking at options and I know we'd want to send him back as late as possible on Saturday, and one option gets him into Roanoke around midnight.</p>
<p>And now my question:</p>
<p>What are the options for kids to get between ROA and campus? Will an arrival at midnight eliminate certain (or all) options? Does it make sense for him to have a 4-6PM arrival flight in ROA on Saturday instead of midnight?</p>
<p>The only option that I’m aware of (besides giving a buddy a 12 pack to pick you up) is the Smartway bus. It’s only $4 but he would have to take the Saturday flight because the smartway bus doesn’t run on Sunday. Heres a schedule but the times are roughly 4pm, 530pm, 7pm and 830pm. If he misses the last one he’s pretty well screwed. [Bus</a> Schedules | Smart Way Bus](<a href=“http://www.smartwaybus.com/schedule.htm]Bus”>http://www.smartwaybus.com/schedule.htm)</p>
<p>Here’s another one but I never used them so ymmv. [Roanoke</a> Airport Transportation Services - Services](<a href=“roanokeats.com”>roanokeats.com)</p>
<p>If you search “roanoke airport cab” you can probably find more.</p>
<p>The easiest way is to take the Smart Way bus, which takes students directly from the Roanoke airport to campus. Fare is $4, and the schedule is posted online:</p>
<p>Because the bus doesn’t run on Sundays, if students fly in on a Sunday, they can take the airport car service, but are still only required to pay $4.</p>
<p>The catch to flying back to Roanoke on Sunday is that students must get an Airport Transfer from the Smartway bus driver on their way out for break. If they don’t get the transfer (or lose it while they’re on break), they’ll have to pay the full price of the car service on their return. Sometimes they’ll cut students a break, but most of the time they’re out of luck if they don’t have one. Be sure to read the restrictions for the Sunday service on Smartway’s fare page.</p>
<p>BTW, also be aware that Amtrak is now a possibility as well because Smartway is running a bus link from VT to the Lynchburg train station. It may not be practical for a trip as far as Massachusetts, but you can check out the ‘Amtrak Connector’ link on Smartway’s home page for more details.</p>